Atlanta-based North American Properties is targeting a mid-February closing on the acquisition of Cool Springs property on which it plans to develop a 363-unit luxury apartment project.

Richard Munger, North American Properties, partner and vice president of development, said the company has the site under contract with owners Alan Revelette and Sunil Patel. Don Meeks, founder of Texas-based Meeks + Partners, previously had the site under contract but assigned his rights to acquire to NAP. If the project materializes, Meeks + Partners will be the architect of record, Munger said.

“This will be a quasi-urban development,” Munger (pictured at right) said, noting the project will offer structured parking (as opposed to the suburban model of surface lots) and some respectable building density. The development, for which a name has yet to be announced, will feature one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments and many of the amenities found at NAP’s eight-story 200-unit Park Central building located on 25th Avenue North in the West End corridor.

The Franklin Planning Commission has approved a rezoning of the six-acre site located on Nichol Mill Lane across from Academy Sports and next to Heritage Medical Associates. The Franklin Board of Alderman must now OK the rezoning on three readings. See the site — the large green space — here in an image courtesy of Google Maps.

Italian plastics manufacturer SO.F.TER says it plans to more than double the output at its new Lebanon plant in 2015. The company said last year it would build its $20 million U.S. headquarters on State Route 109, when it said it planned to grow the facility. But the company's announcement today that it has started local production also says it will move forward next year to double capacity to 100 million pounds and add thermoplastic elastomers to its lines. The long term for SO.F.TER, which has global sales of $320 million, is to produce 200 million pounds and employ 200 in Lebanon.

The lead singer of Better Than Ezra is leading a group that's organizing a two-day acoustic music and food festival at Franklin's Harlinsdale Farm complex. The goal is to feature artists from a number of genres and draw about 15,000 people. Michael Ackley at Franklin Homepage has more info.

Ward 4 Alderman Margaret Martin asked if the event will turn into another music festival like Bonaroo. Griffin responded by saying that "the 'B' word is a bad word for us."

"This Franklin festival skews older," he said. "We're not going for kids. There is no camping. This will suit the high-end atmosphere of Franklin."

The largest family-owned metal processor and distributor in North America will invest almost $33 million to build a new service center in Columbia. The 105,000-square-foot Samuel Son & Co. plant will create 42 jobs. Its machines will be able to shape steel and aluminum up to 84 inches wide, primarily for the region's auto manufacturers. State officials say the facility has doubled in size from when discussions began with Samuel executives.

Michigan-based Rainbow Child Care Centers is preparing to open the doors to its first location in Tennessee, a spot on Wall Street in Spring Hill that can house 140 kids up to 12 years of age. That opening will be followed in a few months by another spot in Murfreesboro for Rainbow, which runs more than 90 locations in the eastern half of the country.